The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) conducted the successful launch of the interceptor missile Advanced Area Defence (AAD) at 1015 hours on Wednesday from Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha. The endo-atmospheric missile, capable of intercepting incoming targets at an altitude of 15 to 25 kilometres, successfully destroyed the incoming missile. All the mission objectives were successfully met.

picture courtesy :Times of India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday lauded the defence scientists for the successful testing of interceptor missile and said it is a proud moment for the entire country.

“With this, India joins the select group of five nations with such capability- a proud moment for the entire country,” he added in another tweet.

Defence officials said the interceptor missile fired from the Abdul Kalam Island (Wheeler Island) off Odisha coast “successfully destroyed” the incoming “enemy” Prithvi missile, which was launched from the integrated test range at Chandipur, at 10.15 am.

While the test involved the “exo-atmospheric” interceptor missile hitting the target at an altitude of 97-km, the test-firing on Wednesday was against an incoming missile at 15-km altitude.

“All the mission objectives were successfully met. The weapon system radars tracked the target and provided the initial guidance to the interceptor which could precisely home on to the target and destroyed it in the endo-atmospheric layer,” India’s Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

“The complete event, including the engagement and destruction, was tracked by a number of electro-optical tracking systems using infrared imagery. Radars and telemetry stations tracked the target and the interceptor till the destruction of the target,” the statement added.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar congratulated DRDO on the successful launch of the interceptor missile. Chairman DRDO and Secretary Department of Defence (R and D) Dr. S. Christopher also congratulated team AAD for the successful test firing.

Scientific Advisor to Raksha Mantri and Director General (Missiles and Strategic Systems), DRDO Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy monitored the launch operation along with other senior officials.